Confirming the fact that we are creating the SkyNet/Terminator world that will inevitably spell the destruction of the human race, DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency), the U.S. government experimental lab devoted to creating state-of-the-art tech weaponry, released a video demonstrating their “Cheetah,” a quadruped robot designed to mimic its flesh-and-blood counterpart.

The Cheetah, built by Boston Dynamics (previously responsible for the equally creepy four-legged Big Dog and humanoid PETMAN, and probably one of the basis for FRINGE‘s Massive Dynamic), reaches a top speed of up to 18 miles per hour (a new record for legged robots, btw). That’s nowhere near a real cheetah’s top speed of 70 mph, but it’s faster than the average human running speed of 15 mph. Not to mention, it never gets tired.

While DARPA assures that their robot program “conducts basic research and is not focused on specific military missions”, it also admits that the technology “could have a wide range of potential military applications.” Food for frightful thought.

To paraphrase The Simpsons‘ Kent Brockman, “I, for one, welcome our new robotic cheetah overlords.”

Video demonstrating DARPA’s Cheetah doing its thing is below, followed by videos of Boston Dynamics’ other robots, the BigDog and the PETMAN.

Video

The BigDog:

The PETMAN: